Man Bites Pilot in British Jumbo Near-Disaster

A man who broke into the cockpit of a British Airways jumbo jet Friday and nearly caused it to crash with almost 400 people on board bit the pilot as

A man who broke into the cockpit of a British Airways jumbo jet Friday and nearly caused it to crash with almost 400 people on board bit the pilot as they struggled for control, the airline said.

Captain William Hagen, 53, "one of the airline's most experienced pilots with 30 years service, sustained bite wounds to his ear and finger," British Airways said in a statement after the plane landed in Kenya.

Passengers said the plane, flying from London to Nairobi, almost flipped on to its back and crashed when a man Kenyan police described as a "mental patient" fought with pilots for two minutes some five hours into the flight.

British Airways said the man was "thought to be a Kenyan national."

The Boeing 747 landed safely in Nairobi, where the man was escorted by police to hospital.

The incident "resulted in minor injuries to four passengers and one female member of the cabin crew," British Airways said -- NAIROBI (AFP)